Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Rabbitte knows the Irish position in the two years that led up to the war, when we were on the UN Security Council. Our diplomats, and the Ministers of the time, did everything they could to avoid a war in the first place. That was the Irish position. We did some very good work on the Security Council, and our respected ambassador, Mr. Richard Ryan, chaired committees on the Security Council and put in an extraordinary effort to avoid the conflict, particularly without an explicit UN resolution.

When we were not on the Security Council, we did not have the same say on the issue. History will record that the work of Ambassador Ryan in particular was very helpful. It was helpful because he had good relationships and he was a senior diplomat. He tried hard to pull the Security Council together. That was not going to work later on anyway, as the American and British Governments had decided what to do.

My meeting with the representatives of these groups was not long, but I was struck by their determination to try to make a very difficult situation work and make the democratic process work. They pointed out that, unfortunately, their history has for hundreds of years, with various invasions and conflicts, always been horrendously violent. It is a sad predicament. All we can do is hope that with the current efforts of the United Nations, and Iraq's own administration, some sense of reasoning can be brought to the matter.

It is a very difficult position. The picture painted by the Deputy is the reality today, including suicide bombers trying to find locations where they can kill the maximum number of people. They attack places of worship, and how they can top that I do not know. The international community, especially those members who were so anxious to participate in the first place, should not abandon them now. There are many UN resolutions. The international community must try to assist them, not just abandon them in the short term because that is one of their biggest concerns as they move forward.

While my meeting with them was brief, I specifically mentioned some of the atrocities, the fact that the world looks at all these matters and that they cannot very well speak about some of the issues that happened and not follow issues in the future. I specifically raised that in the context of the Margaret Hassan case where we have been active on behalf of the family, both living in Kenmare in Ireland, in the UK and elsewhere, to achieve progress on this. The leader of the delegation gave an undertaking that they would try to help in this case. The assistance we seek in this case on behalf of her family is to find her remains. To try to do that at least for the Hassan family would do much to show people their humane concern.

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